CNYO Observing Log: Baltimore Woods, 14 June 2013

Perhaps the last bug-free (of the buzzing kind, that is) observing session until later in the fall, Bob Piekiel hosted his monthly Baltimore Woods observing session on Friday, 14 June 2013 at the same time that the Syracuse Astronomical Society hosted a public viewing session at Darling Hill. An excellent Friday for taking in the CNY skies beyond the Syracuse skyline!

Bob Piekiel performing collimation surgery.

Scope-wielding CNYO members in attendance included Bob Piekiel with 8″ and 11″ SCTs, Larry Slosberg with his trusty New Moon Telescopes 12″ Dobsonian, and myself with my 25×100 Zhumell binoculars (despite a last-minute re-collimation surgery, Bob couldn’t get his monster pair of Vixen 25×125 binos up to his satisfaction. I await the next session to take in that view!).

Beyond the several deeper sky objects we observed that evening, attendees were treated to (1) two ISS flybys (and the rather spectacular run of ISS flybys this month will be the part of an upcoming article), (2) four bright meteors (total count from among the observing group) that all appeared to radiate from the vicinity of Libra and Virgo (so the meteors all appeared to move from the SouthWest to the NorthEast), and (3) more than 20 satellites that crossed fields of view or were prominent enough during the ISS watch to jump out to most everyone. The sky was dominated by the 6 day old waxing crescent *always super* Moon, excellent at all magnifications and the best binocular object in our Night Sky.

As has been a recurring theme in some of these observing logs, the variety of available optics gives one the ability to experience the pros and cons of different equipment first-hand both in terms of setup and magnification.

The Zhumell big binos are easy to setup and provide excellent views of the Moon and some of the very open star clusters. We used the binos as a “sneak preview” of our observing of Saturn as we waited for enough bright stars to appear for Bob to get his GOTO scopes aligned. Even in the binos, Saturn is obviously “Saturn,” with the ring system, planet, and gap between the rings and planet visible. You will fight for the Cassini Division in less transparent skies, but a steady mount and patience will grant you a peak of this dark band between the two major rings.

Larry S. and Michelle M. in a Dob setup action shot.

Larry’s NMT Dob is a 5-minute setup from car to observing, with only a modicum of labored transport from the parking lot to the ground. In moonlit skies, nebula, galaxies, and faint fuzzy objects require a good memory or a great trust in one’s Telrad. On the minus side, you spend extra time trying to find faint objects – this only being a real problem during Public Viewing sessions when you really don’t want to spend all your time finding “something” to see. On the plus side, you really learn the sky this way, you don’t have to worry about battery life and any of the problems that come from modern observing technology, and you can generally get a larger mirror for the same amount of carrying-intensive weight in a Dob over a Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope (SCT), which means a generally better view.

Bob’s two SCT GOTO scopes are, after setup, perhaps the best way to facilitate a Public Viewing session, as you simply call for the object you want to see in the GOTO controller and, with some grinding of gears, you spare yourself from the hunt. In the case of his image intensifier, your GOTO scope might land on a galaxy too faint to even acknowledge seeing through a good eyepiece. Your GOTO purchase is validated when the intensifier then brings out subtle detail in an otherwise invisible object, a search that might easily aggravate a novice Dob user.

All of that said, we remind ourselves of the words of Stu Forster – “The best scope is the one you use.”

For my part, I spent time Naked Eye observing and adding to discussions going on around scopes. The confirmed sightings list contained Saturn, M3, M13, and M57 (the Ring Nebula, both with and without enhancement).

15 seconds of fun with a red flashlight and green laser pointer.

Increasing dew around 10:30 p.m. left us to pack up gear and simply enjoy the naked eye Night Sky (and play with the long exposure setting on my Canon Digital Elph). The next even is scheduled for July 12/13 at Baltimore Woods, followed by Bob Piekiel’s “Star Search” event at Green Lakes on July 26th. We hope you can join us!